Film Film Film

The trials and tribulations of putting a feature film together are illustrated in this 20-minute Russian short. We almost are put in the screenwriter's shoes as we see him struggle with his work. When he completes it, he hands it to the director who then shows it to various people and the writer's script keeps getting edited. Soon the director is taking Valium and writer is getting disheveled.

From there we go through all the steps and meet - in quick flashes - all the people connected from the actors to the cinematographer to the set designer, on and on. As the hapless writer follows along, he has to run for his life in the studio as skeletons and tanks and other wild things that make up some films, speed by and scare the man.

I didn't really see a lot of funny scenes in here, although some of "jokes" kick in more in the second half when we see all problems directors have shooting on location (weather, little kids who don't know their lines, etc.). They also show the director acting like a lunatic and he is more annoying than funny.

I think this would appeal mainly to "insiders" of the film business, who can laugh and poke fun at each other and all the problems one can have trying to make a movie. This won some awards but critics always favor any movie, long or short, that has to do with the film business. I saw this on the "Masters of Russian Animation, Volume One" DVD.

Although this film was made in the old Soviet Union about the absurdity of the film industry, it sure seems to be full of ideas that cut across all cultures. FILM, FILM, FILM makes fun of the many problems facing getting a film from inception to a critical success. It all starts with a struggling writer and slowly you see the project take shape. Agents, child actors, re-writes, and premiers are all lampooned here and it really makes you feel sorry for the writers, directors and actors! The style of cartooning used in this short film is very much indicative of the 1960s--with often minimalist backgrounds, simple drawings and a frenetic pace. To heighten this, excellent writing and zippy music is used and all these factors work together to make for a funny film.

This cartoon is simply wonderful. Brilliantly imaginative and incredibly funny, yet in rather simple, subtle ways, it tells the tale of making a film. The animation is, as much Russian/Soviet animation was at the time, rather simple. However, the animation is quite artistic in a stylized manner and is used so wonderfully and skillfully that it actually adds to the humour of the film and its entertainment value, rather than detracting from it. Some of the scenes in particular are utterly hilarious, although again in a rather understated manner.

Unfortunately, this seems very hard to find, which is a shame. The Russian/Soviet cartoon industry produced some real gems like this one, yet they seem to be essentially unknown outside the former Soviet Union. They also probably don't stand much chance in this modern commercial world against the visually intricate animation seen in so many Western/American cartoons, which is also a shame since Film, Film, Film is truly wonderful.

While made by the Russians, this pretty much shows what an incredible task it is making a feature film. We get to see the pitfalls at every level, from the screenplay, to the director, to the editing, and finally facing the critics. It is done with the use of some cool caricatures. Nicely done and captivating.